What will the State Duma do in the last month of the year?

At the end of last week, the State Duma approved the calendar for consideration of bills for the end of November and December. During this period, deputies will consider initiatives on the right of governors to dismiss mayors, on ensuring the labor rights of officials participating in a special military operation (SVO), on increasing the authority of teachers by limiting the use of mobile phones by students, on separate detention of criminal gang leaders in pre-trial detention centers and prisons, and many others .

On November 28, it is planned to consider in the first reading a bill by members of the Duma Committee on Physical Education and Sports, headed by its chairman Dmitry Svishchev (LDPR), on the right of civil servants and military personnel to receive payment for participating in competitions. Now they are prohibited from engaging in other paid activities besides their main job. On November 29, deputies will discuss in the second reading a government bill on the introduction of a single questionnaire for municipal and state civil servants when applying for a job. On November 30, the second reading of the bill of senators Andrei Turchak and Andrei Kutepov, who proposed to equate employers who employ SVO participants with social entrepreneurs and provide them with all the required benefits, is scheduled to take place. On the same day, the United Russia bill on the presence of Cossacks in the mobilization manpower reserve of the Armed Forces of Russia should be considered in the first reading. According to the document, Cossacks who have accepted obligations to perform civil service or are in the reserves enter the mobilization reserve on a voluntary basis by concluding a contract, and the atamans of their communities will monitor compliance with obligations to perform service.

On December 5, the Duma may consider in the first reading two government initiatives of a sanitary nature. The first of them involves a ban on the construction of new cattle burial grounds in Russia and the creation of a register of existing ones, as well as organizations that handle biological waste. The second bill provides for the disinfection of vehicles entering the Russian Federation upon receipt of information from foreign countries about the detection of infectious animal diseases on their territories.

On December 6, the second reading of amendments from a group of deputies and senators to the law “On the Civil Service System” is expected. Currently, the fixed-term contract of civil servants called up for mobilization into the army can be terminated during their service. As a result, they need to get a job again, and their place may be taken. The bill proposes to suspend such fixed-term service contracts of civil servants so that, upon returning to civilian life, they can be guaranteed to complete the term remaining on them before their conscription into the army.

On December 7, the Duma plans to consider in the second reading amendments of a group of senators and deputies of all factions, limiting the rights of students to use mobile phones at school. This, according to parliamentarians, is necessary to increase the authority of teachers. An amendment on the resumption of compulsory labor lessons may also be added to the document.

At a meeting on December 12, deputies plan to consider in the first reading a government bill on creating an electronic register for films approved for distribution and a state register of national films. At the same time, the bill on holding the international multi-sport tournament “Games of the Future” will be considered in the first reading. It is scheduled to take place from February 23 to March 2, 2024 in Kazan: it is expected that more than 2 thousand athletes from approximately 100 countries will compete in 16 hybrid disciplines. One of the authors of the initiative is Vice Speaker Alexander Zhukov.

On December 13, the second reading of the government bill on preserving the right of parents to a monthly child care allowance in the event of leaving maternity leave before reaching one and a half years is expected. On the same day, the Cabinet’s initiative to include close relatives of missing persons in the list of persons subject to mandatory state genomic registration may be considered in the first reading.

On December 14, the Duma is going to consider in the second reading a bill from a group of senators and deputies of all factions, giving regional heads the right to dismiss mayors if the latter do not eliminate the reasons for the reprimand given to them by the governors within a month. The initiative caused a lot of controversy. The president has a similar right in relation to governors, its supporters defend the initiative.

On December 19, the second reading of another inter-factional senatorial bill is expected – amendments to the Administrative Code (CAC), clarifying liability for violating the terms of the state contract for the state defense order. Military representatives of the state customer will be responsible for violating the terms of the contract on an equal basis with others. Fines will range from 30 thousand to 50 thousand rubles.

On December 20, the Duma plans to consider in the first reading amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers to the Criminal Code (CC) on the deferment of sentences for pregnant women sentenced to restriction of freedom. Finally, plans for December 21 include the second reading of the bill on separate detention of leaders of organized criminal communities in pre-trial detention centers and other places of imprisonment. A group of deputies led by the chairman of the Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Vasily Piskarev (United Russia) introduced this initiative in the last convocation, and in the first reading the draft was approved on July 13, 2023.

Ksenia Veretennikova